


Shank Side Story

by Evekle



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Background Newt/Thomas, Background Sonya/Harriet - Freeform, Balcony Scene, Dancing and Singing, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gangs, Love at first sight?, M/M, People Will Die, Rachel can burn everyone, Romeo and Juliet References, West Side Story AU, awkwardness ensues, fluff is everywhere, how does one romance?, meetings, so much dialogue, talking is hard, the calm before the storm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-03-30 17:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13956030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evekle/pseuds/Evekle
Summary: A West Side Story AU for all you Minaris shippers! It will follow the events of the movie/play and people will die, just warning you. In this one, Minho is Tony, Newt and Thomas share the role of Riff, Aris is Maria. Miyoko is Bernardo, and Rachel as Anita.





	1. Act 1 Scene 1

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter of many. This one just establishes the feud between the Icers (group B) and the Gladers (group A). Next chapter should introduce Minho and the show should be rolling out from there.

The Gladers and the Icers were two seperate gangs roaming around the city known as WICKED. Neither side wanted to  _ share  _ the area known as the Glade. The Icers had come from another place, a place which always had snow and once they got the Glade, the reception wasn’t the best. From day one, the two gangs had hated each other, well until an incident which had stopped the whole feud between the groups.  

\-------

(A few months ago…)

There’s two groups of teenagers, to what looks to be brawling in the park, neither side looks like it wants to give up. One side are a bunch of boys in leather jackets and the other group are girls in free flowing skirts. Ironically enough, these groups aren’t dancing  _ with  _ each other but more against each other. There’s a strange rhythm in this brawl, it looks more like a dance than anything. One side gets the upper hand as they push the other group to a door of the park. Then it’s a shift in power, the girls start to push the boys to the other side of the park, that’s when the adults come in. Automatically, they stop with their actions and both groups look at the new players in the field. The man rushed forward, desperate to stop the battle while the lady behind him just watched her counterpart struggle. 

“Knock it off! Calm it!” the mousy man shouts, breaking apart the two groups. Each side’s looking at each other with fire in their eyes. 

“Just continue fighting, just not  _ here  _ if you all must,” a lady says while waving her hands, standing beside the mousy man. The wrinkles in her face are making her look years older.  

“Nice to meet you,  _ Mrs. Paige  _ and  _ you,  _ Janson.” Thomas says before giving a wave of his hand and stands beside a blonde, Newt. 

 

They two of them turn back to the two adults. The lady still hasn’t stopped lecturing either, “ _ look at what you did! Just stop fighting!”  _ She shouts gesturing to the damage done to the park, despite there being almost none. She doesn’t stop rattling off how  _ they can’t do this! Look at that scratch!  _ Janson looks tired and talks about how he’s  _ gonna call their parents  _ and all that whatnot.The two adults then leave after giving the lecture to the two groups. The other gang, the Icers also leave, solemn but the gangs know, the fight isn’t over yet. This would be settled some other time, preferably soon. 

 

“Good-bye, boys.” Janson says, leaving, with Paige trailing behind him just as the Icers leave through the park’s exit. 

“ _ Good-bye, boys. _ ” Thomas mocks once the adults leave, waving at the two adults, they’ve been lectured so many times that he doesn’t care anymore. None of the Gladers do anymore. 

“They make a nice couple,” a Glader says off handedly with a shrug. 

“Yeah. Sure they do, while saying: You children don't own the streets!” says another. 

“Go play in the field!” one shouts with a snap of his fingers.

“Get off the grass!” a kid shouts shoving one of his brothers.

“Get outta the house!” a small boy says, pointing to a the park’s exit. 

“Keep off the block!”

“Just get out of  _ here _ !”

“Get off the streets! You boys don't own  _ anything _ !”

“Yeah yeah yeah. Guess what?  _ We _ own everything now!” Thomas shouts, twirling to the side. Everyone lines up, ready to go. Then he looks around as sees some red on one of the Glader’s ears. He goes right behind the kid. 

“Whoa whoa, wait a second. Nick, you got blood on your ears! Which one of those Icers ‘branded’ you?”

“Miyoko. Said, ‘not all us Icers are so nice.’ before slicing this ear.” Nick says gesturing to his ear in what looks to be frustration. 

“Oh. You alive shuckface?”

“Should be fine.”

“We  _ need  _ to get revenge then! Show them, that you can’t harm a Glader for free!” a chubby kid shouts, clearly happy for some action. 

“Minho should come too.” Thomas injects, everyone looks at him as if he’s grown a second head.

“Hasn’t come for a month though, you sure he’s gonna come, Tommy?” 

“He was here when we destroyed the Swingers. He’ll come for this.” 

“Yeah, but…” 

“Don’t worry Newt. 

“Saved us that time, right.” 

“Yeah. C’mon, let’s get in the mood.  _ When you’re a Glader, you’re a Glader from your first cigarette to your last dying breath~ _ ” Thomas begins to sing, Newt joins in after the next line.

“ _ When you’re a Glader, if the spit hits the fan, you’re a family man! _ ” Nick joins into the next part of the song. 

“ _ You’re never alone, you’re never disconnected! You’re home with your own, when the company’s expected, you’re well protected! _ ” All of sudden, everyone part of the gang begins to sing with the song, every Glader getting with their partners within the gang. There’s flourishes, twirls and flips as the song progresses. After a few minutes, the song ends, every Glader is grinning. Proud that they’re in this group. 

“Great. We’ll see them Icers at the gym tonight.” Newt commands. 

“Isn’t the gym neutral territory though?” a kid called Stephen asks. 

“Don’t worry. I’m just gonna challenge her to a dance-off with Tommy.” 

“Good that.” Stephen nods, grinning. 

“Y’all heard Newt. Gym, tonight. Look sharp and walk tall, shanks.” Thomas says before taking Newt by the hand, as everyone departs. They were going to destroy the other gang in tonight’s dance. So they were trying to look decent but still able to move with the snazzy clothing. Thomas and Newt on the other hand, went to go find Minho. They needed everyone who was part of the gang if they wanted to win, so the two of them went off to Jorge’s shop around a small corner of the town. Persuading Minho to join them for the night was mandatory if they wanted to win, as he was one of the  _ best  _ despite never showing up for a month. 

  
  
  



	2. Act 1 scene 2 and scene 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt and Thomas try and persuade Minho to go to the party, it isn't as easy as they think. On the other side, Aris and Rachel are getting ready for the dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter refused to be written, like it absolutely refused to collarborate with me. Anyways, in the next chapter, Minho and Aris will finally meet as scene 4 will have it's own chapter. 
> 
> Note: School's starting soon, so the updates may become irregular as life gets in the end but I will finish this fic. This fic should be updated every week if all goes well.

The Gladers have been arguing for have an hour already. Minho refuses to go to the dance. There’s nothing that seems to sway him, nothing at all. Not even bribery seems to work. Jorge, the shop’s owner, has even left in frustration as these boys have basically destroyed any chance of any other customers coming in to buy anything from his lowly store from the arguing raging from inside.

“What do you mean that you aren't coming? Could you at least tell us why not, give us a bloody reason?” Newt asks, they're outside of Jorge's shop and Minho absolutely refuses to go to the dance tonight. 

“Why not?” the Asian turns around and looks at his friends as if they’ve grown another head. Clearly a  _ no  _ isn’t enough to be an answer. 

“Because  **we’re** asking  _ you _ , slinthead.”

“Minho this is important! We need you to go to the dance tonight, we might have accidentally picked a fight with the Icers,” Thomas interjects. He’s getting red in the face about Minho’s complete stubbornness to go to a simple dance.  _ You don’t even have to do anything if you want!  _ Thomas wants to shout, although if he did, it would draw attention to the three boys.  

“ _ Yeah  _ **_very_ ** _ important. Acemen, rocketmen.  _ Not going. I'm busy remember? Got a track event coming up remember.” Minho fires back sarcastically, the boy’s getting frustrated as his friends are refusing no for an answer.  

“No, you don't, we're part of the same track team. We don't have an event till next week. Minho what’s wrong with you!? The Gladers are the best, and you don't want to come back?!”

“ _ Were  _ the best.”

“ _ Are.  _ Find something better?”

“No but--”

“But what?” Newt asks. Clearly very curious. 

“You both won't dig it at all.”

“Spill.” Minho’s two friends say simultaneously, curiosity brimming from their eyes.

“I just feel like something’s happening, something big.” Minho knows the pronoun game is a terrible thing, but in this case, it’s necessary if he wants to avoid this dance. 

“About what?”

“Dunno, it’s just coming.” the boy shrugs.

“Just come Minho. We already told the entire gang already.” 

“Fine. Fine. Fine. I'll go alright. When? Where?” Minho asks his friends, annoyed by their constant pestering. It’s all they’ve been doing for the past ten minutes.  

“Ten. The gym, be ready to dance my shank.”

“I’ll going to regret this aren’t I? I’ll be there.” Minho shouts at the two Gladers as they leave, fooling around as they turn the corner.  _ It was going to some night _ , Minho thinks. He goes back to the store, muttering to himself about how the party will be a bad idea. Later that night, he leaves to go change, since it’s not in him to go  _ poorly  _ dressed.  _ Who knows? Maybe there’ll  _ **_actually_ ** _ be something interesting, _ he tells himself as he leaves his house. He’s wearing a simple suit, nothing fancy, with the only thing that Minho thinks will draw any attention is a red tie, with no patterns on it. 

 

* * *

 

 

On the flip side of the town, a boy and a girl were conversing in a clothing store. It was the after hours, no one needing clothes yet there the two individuals were, murmuring to each other about the dance that night. The boy taking out ties and the girl is trying to help in some sort of way, well almost. 

“Do you think this’ll look good?” the boy asks, turning around, trying to show off the green tie he has unsuccessfully put on. 

“No no no. Aris, leave this me,” the girl says, taking off Aris’ tie and thrusting him another tie, it’s blue. 

“Rachel! How is _this_ going to be much of a difference?!” Aris says, gesturing at the new tie. 

“A lot.” Rachel deadpans, sighing as she takes out a dress from the racks. “What do you think?”

“Don’t you already have an outfit?”

“I do. Anyways, did I mention that Teresa is coming to the dance? No, well she is. Aren’t you excited?” Rachel’s grinning, clearly very happy that her friend is coming as well, it’ll allow her to play matchmaker for a bit.

“Excited for the dance. Meeting Teresa not so much, I don’t feel  _ anything  _ when I look at her.” 

“What do you expect to happen?” 

“ _ Something. _ You know, like how you look at Miyoko?”

“Nevermind.” The two of them go back to trying out the clothing again, though Aris keeps the blue tie which Rachel had thrown at him. There’s constant sounds of fiddling as the clothing are being moved from place to place. Rachel takes out a dress from one of the rakes and tries to see what she looks like on a mirror only to have Aris rush to take the clothing back. It was like a tennis match, one kid taking out clothing and the other trying desperately to put the clothing back from where it should be originally.

 

“Rachel! No, give that back! Do you  _ want  _ me to lose my job?!”

 

Just then, the door bursts open and two girls enter, talking to themselves. One of them, has black hair and is wearing a blue dress talking excitedly with the other, an Asian girl in an orange dress. 

 

“Miyoko and Teresa! Thought you would never come!” Rachel shouts as they come in through the door. She’s very excited for the dance, finally have a chance to show off what the group can do. 

“Well here we are. Aris, meet Teresa.” 

“Uh. Hi.” 

“You ready?”

“Yeah.” 

  
And the four are off, taking their outfits from the ‘shop’. Saying they’re lending them for the night and it’ll be back by the morning. Everyone seems excited, for the dance, talking excitedly amongst each other.  _ It’ll be a fun night. Maybe I’ll run into something interesting for once,  _ Aris tells himself as he locks the shop’s doors and running to his friends.  _ It was going to be a wild night.  _ It takes the four of them fifteen minutes to get to the gym and when they do, it's in full swing. 


	3. Act 1 Scene 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aris and Minho meet at the dance, it goes as well as you think. Dancing happens as a plan blows up in Janson's face, no one is happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so Minho and Aris finally meet, had a hard time writing this since life happened but here it is! Awkwardness ensues as they try to talk to each other. Next update is the balcony scene.

There’s music booming in the gym by the time Minho gets to the dance, both gangs have assembled on the opposite sides and dancing with whoever their partner is. He sees Newt and Thomas trying some sort of Charleston dance, they’re failing miserably but at least they’re having fun but once he gets a closer look, everyone in the Glader gang looks detached and cold. It’s the warm up before the actual dance off begins between the two groups. Looking around, he sees the odd use of colour contrast, all the Gladers are wearing warm hues with the Icers wearing the cold hues. Then the music begins to fade and  _ Janson  _ of all people appears. 

 

“Alright, boys and girls! Attention please!” he commands, trying to get their attention. Everyone turns around to look at the man. “For this fine get together, we would like you all to share a few get together dances.” 

There’s murmuring on both sides, Minho sighs.  _ What makes Janson think that he can resolve this with a dance?  _ He thinks as the officer begins to give the instructions to the get together dances. 

 

“I want you lot to form two circles, boys on the inside and girls on the inside. Now, when the music stops, each boy dances with the girl on the other side. Now let’s go!” 

Neither side moves until Janson shouts at them to go do it and the music begins. Minho wants to tell the man that it’s not going to work. He knows Newt and Thomas are going to go straight to each other once the music starts, same with Gally and Ben. The music stops. Sure enough, Minho sees Newt turn around and takes Thomas’ hand while the leaders of the Icers takes her partner, the rest of the gang follows. The get together failed. Both gangs start to go off to the opposite sides of the gym before yelling: 

 

“MAMBO!” at each other. The dance off begins, Janson has never looked more frustrated at the two gangs before, the man leaves the teenagers as the music begins. 

 

From where he’s standing, Minho can see both groups forming circles around their best dancers. It’s odd, not that Newt and Thomas aren’t a good duo but this entire idea of making this become a dance off is weird enough. There’s a bit more yelling of the word ‘Mambo’ before the music fades and a delicate cha cha begins to play. And he sees another boy across the room and they lock eyes. Before he knows it, they’re moving towards each other as if in a trance. Minho decides to break the silence, it’s too aggravating to look at this kid and  _ not  _ try to make a conversation.

“Do I know you?”

“Don’t think so.” 

_ God, this is so awkward and they’re just looking at each other!  _ Minho thinks before he tries to make a conversation. 

“Nice tie. It makes you look dashing. Anyways, what's your name?” Minho should never talk again, this entire phrase makes him want to set himself on fire. 

“Aristotle, just call me Aris. Uh thanks. And you?”

“Minho. Great name you got.”

“Nice to meet you, Minho.” 

It's an awkward situation to say the least, they’re just looking at each other. Then the silence is broken, it’s the leader of the Icers is staking over. She looks angry for him talking to Aris? It makes no sense. 

“Aris, we’re leaving right now. Glader,  _ leave. _ ”

“Whoa, slow down there Miyoko!” 

“ _ Leave _ . Leave my cousin alone!” 

“Cousin?”

The situation is escalating, Miyoko continues to tell him to leave, Minho doesn’t know how to get out of it. From the corner of his eyes, he sees Newt coming over as well as Janson. Probably to calm down the entire situation.

“Guys, could you bloody shanks settle down--” Newt interjects before Janson starts to speak over him.

“Everything was going so well! Do you guys really  _ have  _ to cause trouble? It wouldn’t hurt you to have a good time. Leave if you have too.” 

The music starts again in the distance as Aris, Miyoko and Rachel go to one side of the gym, muttering to themselves. Minho is stuck watching his friends argue over what to do, but what he wants to do is talk more with Aris. The Icer group is leaving from the looks of it, as they continue out the gym, Newt stops them. 

“Hey. I want you for a war council- Gladers and Icers.” 

“Then the pleasure is mine.” Minho hears Miyoko reply. 

“Let’s go outside.” 

“I don’t want to interrupt the rest of the gang, we’ll meet you in half an hour.”  

“Jorge’s shop then?” 

“It’s settled.” 

 

It’s a blur of a conversation, Minho only hears that one portion of it, all he’s thinking about is his conversation with Aris, gods, he wants to talk with the boy more. No one seemed more interesting to him until now, he hears Newt say something about Jorge’s shop  as the rest of the Gladers leave but it doesn’t matter. Without knowing it, he’s leaving the gym, simply walking through the streets, enjoying the evening air. Minho’s singing to himself as he goes, the night had truly been a blessing. The world seems fine again, it doesn’t matter what the Gladers and Icers do now, it’s all at the back of his mind. What he wants to do is find Aris. 

 

He has no idea about how far he’s walked through the streets just humming to himself. Minho stops the second he hears Aris’ voice coming from an apartment building, he’s somehow found where the other boy lived. So against his better judgement, he goes closer to the red bricked building, trying to find out what’s going on inside the second floor of the apartment. Minho starts to creep up the fire escape, trying to get a better idea on what’s going on. It’s odd, trying to eavesdrop on people, normally Chuck is the one they send to do this, but since the kid isn’t there, Minho has to rely on his guts, everything goes well until Aris appears on the balcony of his floor and they lock eyes.  


	4. Act 1 scene 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The famous balcony scene as well as a parody of the song America. That's it, that's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no idea what to write or how to write this chapter. The balcony scene basically ended me with the fluff and my inability to write anything romantic.  
> Enjoy my first attempt at writing something romantic.

“Minho, what are you doing here?” Aris asks, confusion growing on his face as each second passes.

“Dunno. Just happened to walk here, somehow,” he replies. It’s odd to say the least but they can talk again. “Hey Aris, come down here.” Minho starts to descend the fire escape, trying to go down as quietly as possible.

“Look, if they come back--”

“They’re at the dance, you can come down.”

“But they’ll be back soon.”

“Just for a minute.”

 

Turning around, he sees Aris smile at him, it sends a jolt of happiness through him. What the other boy replies back with makes him fly to the sun and back.

“And if a minute isn’t enough?”

“An hour then!”

“Forever, then yes.”

“Could you at least come down?”

There’s a voice coming out from out of somewhere from the apartment, Minho sees Aris look back in fear. The odds are their time is limited, so he starts climbing up the fire escape again. It’ll only take a minute.

“I’ll be there in a minute! Minho, you _have_ to go! They’re going to be in a minute!”

“Aris, it’s _fine_.”

He’s at the top of the fire escape, right in front of Aris’ balcony, this has been a hell of a night and this second meeting tops the list.

“Fine, do what you want.” Aris shakes his head but he doesn’t seem frustrated. Minho blames himself for staring sometimes, at the moment, he only sees Aris. What the gangs may do next is at the back of his mind, all that matters right now is the boy in front of him. Brown would be considered boring by most, it’s beautiful to Minho. There’s a few lights coming from the apartment, lighting up Aris’ hair into a golden hue.

 

There’s a knock on a door from inside the apartment, and Aris bolts inside. Minho hears a voices and Aris is running back to the balcony. Telling him to leave, that Miyoko and Rachel are coming back. Talk about coincidences. Shuck, he needs to leave.

“You gotta _go_ ! They’re back!” Aris tells him. Then the unthinkable happens, the other boy kisses him. It feels as though there’s stars exploding, supernovas created. Despite it coming from nowhere this time _feels_ right. Sure, he’s kissed other people in the past but it’s never felt like this. As soon as it started, it ended.

 

The next thing he remembers is running through the streets. Jumping around in joy, singing, dancing. Everything seems right in the world, until he receives a text from Newt. The Gladers are up to something again. There’s a meeting at Jorge’s shop for a war council meeting between the Icers and Gladers, he’s expected to be there. Goddammit. The two gangs really can’t get a break can they?

 

* * *

 

 

It’s a few minutes after Minho leaves and Aris lets out a sigh of  relief. Thank god they didn’t get caught, he thinks. The door creaks open and there’s Miyoko and Rachel. The two of them just barely got caught. Miyoko walks up the balcony and closes the doors.

“Don’t need to catch a cold now do we?” she says as she shuts the door.

“Yeah yeah yeah. I get it.”

“C’mon, we have to go. They're waiting for us in the basement.”

“Miyo, look. We’re in WICKED, we can do whatever here.” Rachel interjects, looking annoyed. Aris wants to cheer.

“Alright, but we’re the newbies here. Doors slamming in our face! Just like where we came from! This place is awful.”

“You clearly don’t understand it here! There’s a booming economy, jobs!”

“She is right.” he mutters under his breath, they don’t hear him.

The two girls continue to argue as they reach the basement of the building where the argument finally reaches a climax. Yet no one wants to back down, they’re too far into the matter. Aris wants to tell them both to shut it, the issue at hand isn’t even important! Right before he’s able to shout at them to stop, the entire Icer gang has formed a circle. Rachel’s standing in the middle, swishing her short skirt around.

“The Right Arm...

Such a _lovely_ place...

Place of winter breezes.

Always the pine trees growing,

Always the fish population growing…” Miyoko sings, looking at Rachel as if to say, _what’re you gonna do?_

“The Right Arm….

You terrible place…

Filled with growing diseases!

Always the freezing wind blowing!

Always the population growing!

And the money owing…

And the bullets flying….

Children crying,

I like the place, WICKED!

Smoke on your pipe and put that in!” Rachel counters. Some of the others start to join in, it’s spiraling and Aris just sighs.

“I like to be in WICKED!

Okay by me in WICKED!

Everything is free in WICKED!” the others chant.

“For a small fee in WICKED,

I like it back in the Right Arm.”

“ _Well_ I know a boat you can get on! Bye bye!” Rachel waves as she continues to dance away, dress swirling about.

 

The Icers who are on her side of the argument join in at some point. Everyone else who's against it, goes with Miyoko and it expands to everyone. Aris contemplates joining in, but he stays on the sidelines. It's a petty fight, no need to get involved, they'll figure it out after a few minutes. Then he hears the best lines for one of these ‘sing offs’:

“When will I get to go back to The Right Arm--”

“Then when will you shut it and get gone?”

“Everyone will give a big cheer!”

There’s a pause before Rachel pulls the ace out of her sleeve.

“ _Everyone there would have moved **here**. _ ”

 

Normally, there's a winner of the these ‘sing offs’ but in this case, it looks like a tie. Both sides make good points with their parts of the song. There’s a bit more singing and dancing but Aris doesn’t bother listening, it’s been happening more often lately. He wonders when he’ll see Minho again. Hopefully it’s soon.  


	5. Calm before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre rumble meeting. That's it. Minho doesn't help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the fifth chapter! Finally done, it's mostly dialogue seeing how the gangs are debating over what to use for the rumble. Written from Thomas' POV, since Minho literally comes at the end and doesn't help.

They’ve been waiting outside of Jorge’s shop for two hours, yet despite this, the other gang  _ still  _ hasn’t arrived. Thomas is slowly to feel everyone slowly go insane. A few of Gladers have started re-enacting some sort of song, something about a candy store. At least some of them are having fun. 

“I could slap your face off and  _ everyone  _ here could watch!” he hears one of them say. This wait is getting way too long, just as one of the boys gets up, he sees Officer Janson coming towards them, slowly only to make a turn right before the street they’re on. Talk about amazing timing. Jorge comes out of the store, probably annoyed by all the ruckus they’ve been causing.  

“Are we having a War Council meeting or not?!” 

“Slim it.” 

“Boys will you calm it! Chuck, you should be in bed. What’re you doing here anyways?”

“It’s a War Council meeting! For the Brawl!” 

“You boys are just digging an early grave.”  

“We get it Jorge. We get it.” 

Then Newt arrives, it feels like a breath of fresh air. Thomas doesn’t know how long he could be able to stand listening to the rest of them complain about waiting. 

“Newt, is Minho coming?” he asks. 

“I don’t know. Icers come yet?” 

“Not yet.” 

“They’ll come soon. No worries.” 

 

It’s few more minutes of waiting, the Glader’s voices getting louder and louder as the seconds pass by. Everyone is getting tired of all this waiting. Hell, Jorge even says he’ll kick them out if they don’t slim it. The door slams open and their rival gang enters.  _ Finally _ . 

“Jorge, get’em some cokes all around!” Newt calls after everyone settles down. The man sighs before heading to the back of the store. 

“Let’s get down to business.” their leader says. 

“Looks like someone hasn’t learned the gracious of living.” Thomas adds. 

“I don’t like you so quip it.” 

“Jorge, slim it.” 

“Look, all I’m trying to say is, why can’t you talk--” 

“Slim it.” 

Jorge leaves after that, and the rest of gangs go behind their respective leaders. Thomas stays right beside Newt, making sure the other boy know he’s there as backup. That he’s there for him. 

“We challenge to you shanks to a rumble. End this once and for all.” Newt starts. 

“What terms?” 

“Whatever terms you choose. Crossed the line to many times.” 

“Says the ones who jumped us when we first came.” 

“Who jumped Nick this morning then?” 

“Guys, slim it. Do you accept the challenge?” Thomas asks getting straight to the point. The earlier they get this out of the way, the earlier the rumble can happen.

“Alright then Tommy. Time:” 

“Tomorrow?” 

“Yeah.” 

The two leaders shake hands, it’s an agreement. 

“Place:” 

“The park.” adds one Icer.  

“The river?” a Glader interjects. 

“Under the highway.” the leader confidently declares. 

They shake hands. 

“Hey Jorge!” Minho’s arrived, and Thomas has to say that the asian’s timing is awful. The other boy goes around the store after witnessing the sight, probably going to find the store’s owner. Everyone looks up from what’s going on.  

“Weapons, don’t mind him.” Newt asks, getting the attention of everyone again.

“Weapons?” 

“Your call,” Thomas says, they’re nearly done with all this information needed. 

“It’s your challenge, just saying.”

“What are you, scared to call?” 

“Bats.”

“Bricks.” 

“Rocks!”

“Bottles.”

“Clubs..” 

“Chains.” 

“Knives then!”

“Guys seriously? You’re all chickens!” Minho shouts, no one knows when he came back. He’s pacing around the room, acting as though he’s trying to pick fight. Thomas looks at Newt who’s more annoyed than angry. 

“What do you mean?” A Glader asks angrily as he gets up from the floor.

“Yeah! What the shuck do you mean?!” 

“I’m calling  _ all  _ of you chicken. Throwing bricks? Any shank can do that. You lot are terrified of using plain skin.” the asian continues, as he circles the group in the meeting. The Icer leader looks like she’s going to blow any moment. 

“No garbage?” 

“None. Just the best man of each gang slugging it out.” 

Miyoko looks at Minho with a smirk, probably impressed. 

“I’d like that risk. Alright, fair fight.” 

“What?”

“NO!” 

“Calm it guys. Leaders choose, and I say yes. But we choose who fights.” 

Newt and Miyoko shake, everything is in order. 

“You’ll be like a skinned fish after two minutes.” she points to Minho who rolls his eyes.

“We choose who we send, we shook in it.” 

“Yeah we did.” 

“Look Miyoko, we could--” 

The shop’s door opens and Officer Janson enters. Everyone is silent, trying to act ‘natural.’ Jorge is looking at Janson with an expression of fake surprise. 

“Well, hello there. Closing time?”  

Jorge nods. 

“Just me and Minho, closing the store  _ hermano. _ ” 

“Do you mind?” Janson takes a seat on the cashier’s desk. 

“Mind? I’m the village idiot.” 

The other man looks around, critically eying all the Gladers before he speaks again. Minho looks tired from all everything he’s heard but Thomas sighs. This is going to be another lecture isn’t it? 

“When’s the rumble going to be? News travels fast here, where you lot going? The park? The river? Whenever it is, I hope you lot finish each other off. If you won’t then I  _ will _ .” And the man leaves, no one speaks after the door slams shut. Then one by one, the members of the gang start getting up, going through the door in the single file line. Thomas stays at the back, have Newt be the ‘Mother duck’ and lead. They’ve got to prepare for the rumble. He overhears part of a conversation between Minho and Jorge that adds no new information, just about how the brawl is a bad idea. Whatever.  

“You think it’ll be a fair fight?” 

“Hopefully.” 

“What are you on?” 

“Nothing, there’s just a boy--” 

“I don’t need to hear that. That’s why it’s a fair fight! Minho, aren’t things hard enough?” 

“Not anymore.” 

“You’re not scared.” 

“Not at all. Should I be?” 

“I’m old enough to be scared for all of us.”  


End file.
